Importance
by skywolf666
Summary: SheLloyd. My second shot at a fic for TOS. Mild spoilers. Set directly after the Volt arc. Depressed after the death of her best friend, Lloyd is desperate to do something, anything, to get Sheena to smile again.


Lloyd glanced behind him as he walked down the central stairs of the temple, back towards the Summoner who hadn't spoken since making the pact. Everyone else was silent too, as though they were scared to break the already fragile silence. Battered and bruised, they all were looking at some portion of the floor under their feet, besides Zelos who looked as though he had just won some sort of female lottery. Lloyd frowned at his expression but said nothing, walking slower so he came to a pace beside Sheena. She didn't even look up at him.

Presea shot him a warning look, though her pale blue eyes were full of sympathy. She knew better than anyone true sorrow and grief, with the inability to express it. And she knew, just as well as Lloyd did, that maybe Sheena didn't want any comforting. The assassin always had seemed to like keeping to herself, even if she was trying her hardest to open up to her fellow comrades.

Lloyd shook his head silently, banishing her warning. He continued to trudge alongside Sheena, wishing from the depths of his soul that he could make that pain in her haunted eyes go away. He wanted to reach out and hug her, hold her, but his hands stayed clenched at his sides as though they were weighed down. He couldn't even speak.

Leaving the temple, the light was almost blinding as they finally got to the door. The loud cries of gulls was almost music to their ears after the almost deafening crashes of thunder that the temple had supplied them with. Robotically, as though they all had similar thoughts in mind, one by one they turned to the dock where they could take off back to Mizuho. Anywhere, even in Yggdrasil's dungeon, was way better than here.

Lloyd halted then, gritting his teeth against the angry words he wanted to spill. Instead, he took a gentle hold of Sheena's arm, smiling very little when she looked up at him in confusion. He was lost for words then, baffled by the surge of sheer joy that went through him at the look. Maybe it was the show of something else than pain that made him happy, he couldn't stand the look of sorrow. He spoke up then, gently tugging Sheena back away from the machines to his side, "You guys go on ahead, go to Mizuho and tell Tiga what we did, okay?"

Sheena blinked several times, staring at the swordsman in complete and utter shock. She couldn't find her words, it was like they had all died along with Corrine inside of that blasted temple. The thought sent a huge wave of anger and pain through her already devastated body, but with all her concentration she managed to stop the tears before they made their arrival. All she could do was stare at him.

"Lloyd...? Are you..." Raine's words died in her mouth then when Lloyd glanced meaningfully at Sheena, and it only took an instant for her to understand what he meant to do. She smiled very slightly then, her heart warming considerably against the sorrow. Lloyd lived by instinct, it was something they all teased him for but in reality, it was what kept them all alive, and sane. She trusted his gut reactions more than anything she had learned, so she merely nodded and gestured towards the dock. "Alright then Lloyd. We'll pick you up shortly after we get some rest in the village."

Zelos paused however before turning around, staring at Sheena intently, then to Lloyd. With a snort, he shook his head and turned around, knowing that in a battle of wills, he would never stand up to the swordsman. He muttered under his breath as he trudged to the waiting EC, "The idiot has no idea what's coming to him..."

Sheena watched silently as the EC sped away with the aid of Undine, quickly leaving her and Lloyd behind on the island. When they were truly out of sight, she turned back to him, the words blocked somehow as she tried to speak them. All she could really do was looking at him, silently demanding an explanation.

"I... I kinda figured you could use some time away from everyone." Lloyd managed to say after a long and tense moment of silence, reaching bak to unconsciously rub the back of his neck. She just kept staring at him as though he'd grown an Exsphere in the middle of his forehead, and that only increased his embarrassment. "I understand if you're mad at me, but... I... Oi vey... Look, Sheena..."

"If you think I need someone's shoulder to cry on, you're dead wrong."

Lloyd blinked, taken aback by the ferocity in the Summoner's voice. Even though she sounded angry enough to take out her energies on him violently like she did to Zelos, Lloyd could see through the facade. Tears were forming in her eyes, and she made no attempt to hold them back as she shouted at him.

"Corrine is dead! Dead! Because of me! I wasn't strong enough to protect my best friend from Volt, just like I couldn't protect the villagers who were all counting on me when I first faced him! I don't want your sympathy!" She hollered at him, tears now trickling freely down her scraped cheeks, mingling with the fresh blood and stinging horribly as the liquid slid into her injuries. Throwing her hands angrily, she continued even more aggressively, "I don't _need_ your sympathy either! Get away from me!"

Lloyd said nothing for the longest time, watching as her chest heaved as though she had just run a flat out sprint across the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge. Her tears were still flowing freely, and she stood in a very familiar fighting stance as though she was going to hurl herself at him. Then, he smiled, ignoring her previous warnings and walking slowly up to her until his hands were on her shivering shoulders. "Sheena, no matter how loudly you yell at me, I will never turn my back and walk away from my friends."

She said nothing, the shivering spreading from her shoulders to her hands, and soon she was trembling all over as the tears really began to flow. She was barely aware of Lloyd pulling her into his arms to pillow her head on his shoulder, and she began to sob. Her knees gave out and he followed her to the ground, still holding her tight as she continued to cry.

'Why does it feel so right to cry to you when all I want to do is make you think I'm stronger than I really am?' The thought was whispered in the back of her mind, but soon it was banished, lost in the wind as Lloyd held her close, cradling her as she gave into the urge to cry. 'I'm... I'm sorry...'

"Shh... It's okay Sheena, it's okay... Just cry..." Lloyd muttered quietly into her dark hair, breathing deeply to calm the sudden jolt in his stomach as her hands clutched at the front of his shirt to hold him closer to her. An odd scent was clinging to her clothes, and he oddly wondered why it seemed familiar as she continued to cry herself hoarse in his arms. He hated to see anyone in this sort of pain, it killed him, but seeing her like this, it shook him to his soul. He couldn't explain why he had to hug her close, why he just couldn't let her go, the thoughts made his head hurt and his heart shudder, so he simply knelt there with her until she couldn't cry anymore.

"I'm... I'm so sorry..." Sheena whispered weakly, finally pulling away from him, still trembling mildly from the force of her sobbing. Shaking her head a little, she raised her hand to wipe away her tears but to her astonishment, Lloyd had already beat her to it, wiping away the streaks with his gloved hand. Blushing fiercely at this, she sat where she was and let him finish before drawing away, training her eyes on the ground instead of his face.

"Don't apologize for crying, we all have to do it at some point." Lloyd told her with his trademark "I'm a goof" smile, hopping to his feet and extending his hand to help her up. After a moment, she took it and he pulled her gently to her feet, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to support her. "Are you alright now?"

"I... I think I'm okay..." Sheena managed somewhat shakily, letting herself have one last shudder before her tense body relaxed a little. It was then that she realized, with a jolt, that Lloyd's arm was still around her and she blushed to the roots of her hair. For the life of her, she couldn't make a sound beyond a little squeak when she tried to tell him she was alright, and in horror she clapped her hands over her mouth at her blunder. 'Oh Martel no! What in the world is wrong with me!?'

"You alright Sheena? You've gotten pretty red all of a sudden." Lloyd remarked curiously, a little startled himself at the half-squeak half-squeal the ninja had emitted. She shook her head fiercely and he just shook his head, not understanding and not entirely sure that he wanted to know. He paused then, glancing at the temple then back to the dock. 'It's her decision when she wants to go back, not mine...' "Sheena, do you want to stay here for a little bit...?"

Embarrassed at the thought of spending a night alone with Lloyd, she opened her mouth to tell him 'no', but the word couldn't seem to find its voice and failed to leave her throat. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she tried again, but as before, the word found no form. 'Martel, what the _hell_ have you done to me?'

Taking her silence as a sign that she wasn't ready to go back yet, Lloyd nodded and turned her away from the dock now, gesturing to the open space ahead of them. "We can pitch camp here then for the night, and join up with the others tomorrow at Mizuho, I'm sure Tiga won't mind considering."

Half-hoping she was dreaming and half-scared that she actually was, Sheena just nodded, in a complete daze. It was like her fantasy had been delivered to her on a silver platter, fixings and all, and she was scared to shatter it. She never would have admitted out loud that he was part of any of her dreams, but he was, he always played the centre stage in any idea she had, especially as of late. She sat down in the long grass at Lloyd's request and watched in a dazed fashion as he cut down a tree and hacked it into pieces for firewood.

Soon a large fire was going, and she listened wearily to the crackling of the wood along with the quiet chirping of bugs. When she volunteered to help with the cooking, Lloyd banished her with a grin and a wave of his hand, and she didn't have the strength to argue with him. She attempted to peek in on what he was cooking, but he was quick in shooing her away and with a defeated sigh, she sat by the fire and settled for watching his back as he worked.

As she watched him, the faintest hint of a smile ghosted on her lips, and she wound her arms around her knees, settling her chin on her arms. He seemed totally into what he was doing, but she didn't really mind, it gave her a better chance to watch him silently. 'There's just something about him that I can't get over... I still don't really know what it is that makes me want to stay with him through anything and everything... Maybe it's everything about him...'

She sighed very softly, hiding her face in her arms, trying to lose herself in her thoughts and the sounds of the forest. The loss of Corrine was like gravity had increased a hundredfold, every part of her body felt incredibly heavy. She tried to take a real deep breath, but her lungs would wince as though she simply had no room for air in her chest. Perhaps her heart had shattered into too many pieces. Even with that dark thought in her mind, when she looked up to see Lloyd tending to the food, the crushed pieces in her chest warmed a little, not nearly enough to heal the wounds, but enough to soothe the ache. She wanted to smile again as she watched him, enjoying the look of absolute concentration on his face, it really was adorable.

As if Martel herself was laughing at her, Lloyd took that exact moment to glance over her way, seeing her gentle smile. He blinked, startled, and his hand froze for a split second over the fire. Too long. With a holler of pain, he jerked backwards, efficiently dumping the contents of the pan right into the fire as he fell backwards onto the grass.

Sheena sat there stunned for half a second, then she started to laugh, overcome with the amusement of his blunder. She got to her feet swiftly though, hopping over the bonfire to his side, still giggling as she helped him to sit up properly. He was muttering curses under his breath as he nursed his injured hand, and only after a swift clip above the ear was delivered did he let her look at it.

"That was a very stupid thing you did." Sheena told him between giggles, examining the burn without taking off his glove. The glove was seared right through, almost having melted right onto his skin, and she grimaced a little when she saw the blood. He made to pull his hand back but she held firm, very slowly pulling the material off. She managed to save his skin however, and smiled once to herself for her luck, then she rummaged in her pack for some Gels and bandages. She muttered between bandaging, "It's at times like these I wish I could use Healing Arts... Summoning is useless at times like these..."

"It's okay." Lloyd chuckled, keeping his grin on his face despite the stinging pain of the burn. He watched intently as she finished bandaging his palm, patting the little knot once before sitting beside him almost automatically. He adding sweetly, winking playfully to see her smile again, "Besides, I think you're better company than Zelos, but don't tell him I said that about his First-Aid."

It worked, Sheena laughed, but she covered her mouth with her hand to block out the sound even though her shoulders were shivering. Her laughter subsiding after awhile, she nodded towards the ruined food that was cooking in the fire and asked curiously, "So what were you making that I wasn't allowed to see?"

"Well..." Lloyd blushed self-consciously, rubbing the back of his neck with his good hand as he examined the remains of what he had hoped would turn out to be a good meal. Coughing to clear his throat, he explained somewhat lamely, "Before we left Mizuho, I kinda asked Tiga what your favourite foods were, I figured he'd know... Uh, I was trying to make some fried rice with pineapple, he said that's your favourite fruit..."

"Y-You asked what my favourite food was?" Sheena stammered, blinking several times in worry that she was actually sleeping still. After giving herself a swift pinch, out of Lloyd's sight, she confirmed she was awake, and miracle of all miracles, he was _still_ red in the face! "Wh-Wh-Why?"

"Well you never really mentioned it all the other times we cooked for you, and I thought it'd be nice to surprise you with your favourite meal and all since we were ought here..." Lloyd rushed to explain, mistaking her stammering for a well-placed anger. He shook his hands in a gesture of self-defence but that only served to yank at his already burned skin and he groaned with his failure. "Dammit, I'm turning into Colette!"

"You're not that bad, if you were, I would've been the one in the fire, not you." Sheena teased him gently, ruffling his hair before she examined the bandaging for any sign of bleeding. She was pleased to find nothing and gave him his hand back, but it closed gently around hers, preventing her from pulling away. Suddenly shy, she lowered her eyes and asked weakly, "Lloyd... I... W-Why didn't you go with the others to Mizuho? We could've left straight away to find the Rheairds and rescue Colette..."

Lloyd's eyes flickered for a long moment at the mention of her name, and she quickly yanked her hand out of his, feeling very self-conscious about their proximity. With a low sigh, he ran his good hand through his already messy hair and explained half-heartedly, "We would have had to rest in Mizuho anyway before heading out anywhere, none of us are in any shape to go rushing halfway around the world for anything yet... Besides, I... I wanted to keep you company."

"You didn't need to do that for me though..." She murmured softly, trying her best to keep her eyes on the ground instead of drifting to his face. Night had fallen on them quickly and despite the darkness, the fire glowed brightly and she knew he could see the fierce blush playing on her face beneath the scrapes and bruises.

"I wanted too Sheena." Lloyd answered her simply, smiling when she looked up at him incredulously. To his surprise, he found himself looking down at the ground, embarrassed by her wide-eyed expression. His stomach was flipping oddly again and he knew it wasn't from hunger, it was from the way her eyes were on him. Groaning inwardly, he grasped for the words that had somehow fled his thoughts, and stammered, "Y-You're, you're important to me. I want to be with you when you're happy and be with you when you're sad too. That's why I stayed."

Sheena smiled the smallest bit, nodding her head once with a sigh of fond exasperation. She glanced at the now charred remains of what had been their dinner, and asked somewhat playfully to ease the awkward silence, "Well, since you effectively ruined our food, shall we try cooking again?"

"I think my hand's pretty much out of commission with this burn." Lloyd answered sheepishly, glancing down at the bandages with a mock scowl. He couldn't express how happy he was however when Sheena laughed at his antics, and he grinned at her too. Growing sheepish again, he admitted, "Though I think that was the last of the pineapple I got from Tiga... I'm sorry Sheena."

"That's alright, I prefer pineapple more with curry anyway." Sheena told him cheerfully, amused by his startled expression to her admission. Laughing at this, she wondered why she felt so much lighter when he was around. He made it so easy to want to smile, to give in to the warm feelings he evoked in her. "What? The sour tang really brings out the spice."

"You'll have to cook it for me sometime then." Lloyd responded with a firm nod, growing serious at the thought of tasting her cooking. He had gone through it with almost every other member of his team, and he had to admit he'd always been curious about Sheena's talents with food. She never had cooked for them before. He watched with concern as a faraway look entered her face and he realized that even such a minor topic would bring back painful memories and he cringed with guilt. 'It was my stupid idea to make her stay here so I could make her smile somehow... Look what I'm doing! I'm messing everything up!' He bit his lower lip, his mind racing frantically to find some way to make her smile again. 'She said that Corrine was truly her best friend... Those memories, they shouldn't be painful for her, they should make her smile... I need her to see that, I _need_ to see her smile, to hear her laugh.' "Sheena... Tell me about Corrine."

Sheena was taken aback for a moment at the utter seriousness in the swordsman's voice, then she settled when she realized what he was doing. There was curiosity in his expression along with something else she couldn't quite place, and after a long moment, she began her story. "Well... Corrine was a manmade Summon Spirit, I met him when I first was taken to the Lab in Sybak. I made a pact with him at the Chief's request, it was my first one I ever made. That's really when people started acting different around me, I thought I was a freak." Sheena smiled wryly, wrapping her arms around her knees as she stared into the depths of the flames, lost in her thoughts. "It was a rule that I could only Summon when I had to fight, so at first I never Summoned Corrine... But when people began avoiding me, I got so lonely... So I Summoned him, a lot... I wanted someone to talk to, someone to be my friend... Corrine was that friend."

Lloyd said nothing, sensing that she needed to speak, needed to let these memories in so the pain would somehow ease.

"The last thing I said to him, I... I told him he wasn't strong enough to protect me. What kind of friend am I? Really?"

"You are the best friend he ever had and could have ever wanted." Lloyd answered her firmly, not liking the guilt and pain shining in her eyes as the tears began to build again. He reached out to gently wipe them away, adding seriously, "He gave his life for you because he loved you, because you were his friend. Those words you told him weren't what was on his mind when he looked at you in the temple, Sheena. He loved you and wanted you to know it."

Sheena sniffled once, reaching up to brush away the rest of her tears, but Lloyd had beaten her to it again, and she patiently waited for him to finish before drying her cheeks on the back of her sleeve. She reached into her blouse, pulling out the small bell that remained of her faithful companion. She turned it this way and that, watching with a little smile as the light from the fire bounced off of the golden surface. "You're right... Thanks, I needed to hear that."

"Sheena... Can I see the bell for a second?" Lloyd tried his best to keep his excited smile off of his face at the sudden idea that had burst into his head. He didn't know how she would feel about it, but at the same time he knew she would love it. Sheena didn't hesitate in handing him over the precious item, and he marvelled at how quickly she had grown to trust him, and him in return to her. Turning his back to her, he reached into his bag, finding what he needed. A single needle with mythril thread. The professor had insisted on buying it due to the rips sustained in their clothing, and it had turned out that the professor was quite adept at sewing and repairing cloth.

Sheena craned her head to see what Lloyd was doing, but oddly enough she felt no fear as he handled her memento. Even though she had no idea what he was doing to it, she knew that he wouldn't do anything to upset her, not after all the trouble he had went to tonight. He had turned around again with a huge dorky smile on his face, and she had to stop herself from grinning back at him. His happy moods were strangely infectious. "Alright, now what did you do?"

"Close your eyes first." Lloyd instructed mysteriously, still managing to keep his grin to its broadest length while trying to be completely serious.

Sheena managed a sigh of mock annoyance but did as she was instructed, closing her eyes tightly and waiting patiently for him to do whatever he was going to do. Even with her eyes closed, she could sense him getting very close to her, and heart leapt into her throat but she kept her pulse steady with great effort. She felt his hands brush gently against the back of her neck and she couldn't help but breathe in sharply at the feel of his ungloved hands touching her skin. Then he was gone, and she asked somewhat shakily, "C-Can I open my eyes now...?"

"Yeah."

Sheena opened her eyes and looked down, seeing what Lloyd had done for her. Corrine's bell now hung around her neck on a thin strand of mythril thread and when she looked at the sparkling object she realized he had etched in Corrine's name in tiny markings, just for her. Her eyes widened and she looked up to see him smiling sweetly at her, and her body moved before her mind had a chance to control her actions.

Lloyd gasped as she pounced on him, her arms winding around his shoulders tightly as she hugged him. He managed a shaky laugh as he hugged her back, nuzzling his face into her neck with a happy sigh as she relaxed her body against his. It felt so natural in that moment to be holding her, so natural to be sitting there with her there. "I'm glad you like it Sheena... You can have him with you always."

"Thank you Lloyd, thank you." Sheena whispered breathlessly into his ear, overcome with the urge to cry, laugh, and smile all at the same time. His arms had looped around her waist to hold her to him, but she didn't really seem to be aware of the closeness, too caught up in the rush. "It's.. It's just..."

"It's good?" Lloyd asked with a little smile, drawing away just a bit to see her face so he could see how she was feeling. Her smile was so bright that for a moment it felt as though all of his breath had left him in one mighty 'whoosh'. He didn't know what he was doing for a long moment and when his mind caught up with his body, his lips were pressed against hers.

Sheena gasped sharply when his lips touched hers, and she stiffened in shock. It only took her half a second before she relaxed with a muffled sigh of surrender. The kiss didn't last for much longer than a few seconds, and Lloyd pulled away first, his eyes wide with a mix of shock, guilt and apology.

"Sh-Sheena, I, I'm sorry, I didn't–" Lloyd stammered nervously, completely astounded by what he had just done. He realized his hands had slid down her back to rest slightly above her hips and he pulled them back as though he had been burned.

"It's alright Lloyd." Sheena breathed, closing her eyes for a minute before opening them again, trying her best to keep her smile from her face. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she felt as though something inside of her had finally mended. She didn't draw out of his arms however, tightening her arms around his waist and nuzzling into his chest. "It's okay."

"Sheena..." Lloyd spoke her name quietly, returning the gesture as he pulled her into his lap and held her close. He listened to her easy breathing and for once in quite a long time, he felt oddly at peace. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the light floral scent that clung to her kimono and whispered her name again. "Sheena."

"Thank you, Lloyd... I... Thank you."

**AN**

**Whoosh. XD So I wrote another one, and I personally believe I failed on every level. Hehe. I have a third one in the works that may or may not be my last TOS oneshot/twoshot, we'll see... I really do like writing for Tales, it's fun. But anyway... So it took me long enough to write this one (helps that I just recently replayed this scene too), and I can't express my joy/passion for this crazy game XD. Anyways, toss my a review if you feel the need, and thanks for reading if you did!**

**Sky**


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